More fun in California

More fun in California came about at McD's




Kallie and Madilyn climbed to the
top of the playland cage.





Kara's kids came to visit. All the cousins had
fun together.

Josh and Madilyn climbed all over the

little turtle in McD's.

Can you imagine eating a meal on a table with a

design like this? I find it a little nauseating.

Can you hear the giggles and squeals Josh is

making while learning to walk?

Fun in California

Who is having more fun at the park, Pa or Josh?




Josh and Madilynne playing on swings.


The Jelly Belly factory is always fun

Madilynne took a ride in the Jelly

Belly car.

Madilyn got wet at the water park.

Madilynne playing on the slide at the park.

You can almost hear the squeals and
laughter of Josh as he takes his first

steps.

We all had fun while these two children were here for a visit. I don't dare

put any more pictures on here for fear they will disappear.

There is beauty all around

As you look around you, you can see beauty everywhere
in odd places and unexpected spots. There is beauty all around.



As you drive up the Feather River Canyon you can enjoy
the beautiful river running along side the road. There is
beauty all around.

There is a nice 'crick' running through our property in Midway

It is enjoyed by fishermen, children, and resting adults who

enjoy relaxing and listening to the water as it rushes on its way.

There is beauty all around.

Many various flowers in bloom are so pretty. They add light

color to the landscape. There is beauty all around.

There are lots of red Crepe Myrtle plants in many yards.

They add a burst of color and are so pretty. There is beauty

all around

A truck load of split fire wood is beautiful when you

think of all the warm fires it will provide. There is

beauty all around.

A big stack of cut, split, and dry oak wood is beautiful

when you think of the cold weather that is coming

and all the warm nights by the fire that this wood

will provide. There is beauty all around.

Then there is the over abundance of fruit and veggies that we

can give away to friends who don't have a garden. There is

beauty all around.

There is so much beauty in the world if we stop to look. It

is in odd places too. Yes indeed, there is beauty all around.

Wedding day 57 years ago

It was 57 years ago when
we said 'I do'. We have
acquired a lot during that
time. Three daughters,
fifteen grandchildren, and
thirteen great grandchildren
make our lives happy. We
enjoy visiting with all of them.

A whole nest full of birds.

We have a bird that insists on building its nest under
the front of the trailer on top of the hitch. They crowd
so many into the nest that they hang over
the edge. I think there are 4 in there now.
They all have feathers so I expect them to fly away
at any time. They build a nest in April and again in June
or July. This is the second brood this year.

Too much fruit and veggies!

This is what happened to the artichokes because we couldn't eat all of them.



We have so many apricots that they look like grapes on the tree.



The peaches are in full swing. I hope to dry some of these.

The grape tomatoes are going to out do themselves. We will have to start eating these.

Pa picked the squash yesterday. What am I going to do with all of them?

He pulled out all but 4 of each kind.

Feast or famine! Wish some of these could get ripe in the winter!

Getting rid of all the hoses

Every time it was watering time, the hoses had to be
dragged around. It was work. Then they all had to
be put back.











So Pa got the bright idea to put a drip system in the
orchard. He hasn't thought about putting one in the
garden yet. Thats next.













He worked hard stringing plastic tubing around the
orchard and installing the drippers, shut-offs, and
extensions.

I don't know how he knew where
everything went .
Then came the test to see how many leaks
he had and if it would actually work.













IT WORKS! YAY!

A work project

Most of the flowers were planted

here.

And some of them were planted

here.

Pa brought out his portable

hole digger. It worked great

except when he hit a root.

We still have 36 plants

to find a spot to put

them in. I think I

need to take a

little time to figure

out where to put

them.

Pa really got ambitious

and started raking

leaves. He used a pitch

fork to load them

into the wheel barrow.

The rest of the yard

will have to wait for

another day

Work in the heat

How can I get these from here

over to here in the heat?

I think I will wait til morning.

What we do all day

We spend most of the extra time watching and feeding the birds.

Sometimes even the cat gets bored.

Our garden is getting ready to produce.

The tomatoes have little fruits on them. I can hardly wait for them to turn red.

The peaches are getting ripe.

We just have to keep the birds

away.

The Star Jasmine is in full bloom. It smells so good.

A garden at last

We finally got our garden planted yesterday, a whole month late. I stayed in the house most of the time during planting and didn't supervise. We now have a 30 foot row of zuccinni and a 30 foot row of yellow crook neck squash. Three plants of each will feed the whole neighborhood. The excuse was that there was still seed in the package and so it had to be planted.

I had 5 potatoes that had started to grow so Pa decided to plant them. He dug a nice ditch about 6 feet long to plant them in. I wonder if he was trying to feed the starving children in China since he dug the ditch so deep. I don't think the Chinese even eat potatoes.

The tomatoes are blooming and are half way up the 4 foot fence Pa is training them to grow on. Since we planted them a long time ago, I am hopine they will soon have fruit for us to eat.

Since it takes 80 days for the corn to mature, maybe we will be eating corn by August 2nd. I decided to weed the asparagas and spent a hour yesterday and another hour today pulling weeds in a 30 ft row. I finally talked Pa into getting the Mantis tiller out so I could till the dirt along side the vegetables. I was warned several times that it would jump around on the hard dirt and take out the plants. I was able to go up one side and back without a single mishap. My arms gave out so I had to quit. It was so much easier than being down on my hands and knees.

I wonder how much we will be able to harvest from this garden. It will probably get ripe just before we go to Swiss Days. I wonder how much $ we will save. We had to buy the seed and plants. I don't know how much we spent. I know it wasn't cheap. The best thing about it, fresh from the garden beats store bought any day so I am looking forward to the harvest in August. The frost won't get it until October or November. Pa did a good job with the garden and hopefully it will give us an abundance of fresh veggies.

Birthday Bash

Hamilton had a birthday bash on Friday and Saturday. Jake was practicing his BBQ skills by doing the best hamburgers I have tasted in a long time. There were lots of things to put on the sandwiches and a great big strawberry and baby spinach salad to go with it. I pigged out on dinner that night. My sandwich was so big I couldn't keep it neatly stacked.

A day well spent or a day wasted?

We left home this morning and headed to McDonalds at 9 a.m. We had our usual uneventful breakfast except the manager wanted us to buy a $150. ticket for a $2,000,000 home raffle. I couldn't pay the taxes on that kind of place so we passed on the opportunity. (a day wasted)

We had some nearly bald tires on the truck so we headed to Sam's to buy 3 new ones. Almost had a cardiac arrest when we got the bill. A few years ago I could have bought the whole tire department for that much. (a day wasted)

Our diesel was almost gone. We haven't filled the tank since we went to Death Valley in February. The service station wanted 50 cents to use my ATM card. The cheapskate that I am I ignored that request and swiped my card. No 50 cent charge was on the receipt. (a day wasted)

Pa needed some fence posts for the tomatoes so over to Lowe's. (a day wasted)

By this time waiting around all these stores was making us hungry. A few days ago, we got an email telling us to download a coupon for an UNKFC grilled dinner. Pa thought it was a joke and didn't want to go, but since I am a cheapskate, we took our coupons. We each got 2 pieces of grilled chicken, a biscuit, cole slaw, and gravy and potatoes. It was better than their usual chicken so I think that will be what we order the next time we want chicken. Sometimes it pays to be a cheapskate. ( a day well spent)

Looking back on the day, we ate breakfast, missed a chance on a $2,000,000 home, bought tires, filled the fuel tank, bought fence posts and had a fantastic free lunch so I will have to rate the day as well spent. The lunch was very good.

So many artichokes!

Last week it was Wendy's chili that we ate every day. This week it looks like it will be artichokes. They love this cool wet weather.

Look at our lovely garden.

For two weeks in a row the irrigation ditch water has gone over the top of the levee and flooded our garden area and yard. This weekend the rain ruined any plans of working up the ground. Guess we will have tomatoes and nothing else. At least they are growing out the top of the walls of water. Everytime it gets almost dry enough to do something it gets wet again. I have my mouth all set for cantaloupe, cucumbers, and corn. Oh well, maybe next week!

What happened to spring?

The orange trees are in full bloom and their perfume fills the air with a wonderful aroma. The Bottle Brush is starting to bloom and the humming birds have found it. I really thought spring was here, but now as I look outside, it is cold and starting to rain. It is supposed to really pour this afternoon. Pa is out mowing the lawn, trying to beat the heavy rain because it will be a week before all the rain is predicted to go away. What happened to the beautiful spring weather?

The dreaded dentist.

We both had the dreaded appointments with the dentist this a.m. All we needed was to have our teeth cleaned but it is still nerve racking waiting for him to hit that one sensitive spot in your mouth. Cleaning is sure a lot better now that he uses water instead of the old scraping method. Lucky us, no cavities or bad spots so we can relax until the next appointment in 6 months. We received our goodie bags with a new toothbrush, floss, and toothpaste and since it was noon, we set out to find a place to eat so we could stain our teeth again. There is a new Carl's Jr that opened a few days ago. It is the Green Burrito. I ordered a chicken burrito that turned out to be as big as a dinner plate and Emery ordered 3 small burritos that wouldn't even cover a saucer. He was a little disappointed that they were so little. Everything was really good, but now we need to go back to the dentist for another cleaning job to undo the lunch thing.

Wendy's chili

A friend at McDonald's gave us a recipe for Wendy's chili. You can buy a pretty good size portion for a dollar. We went shopping for the ingredients and I spent yesterday afternoon putting it all together and cooking it for several hours. I had to chop the tomatoes, chop the celery, chop the onions, open several cans and put it in the crockpot. Since that pot was too small I got a bigger one out. It filled right up to the top. I only spent $20 on all that chili that sells for a $1 but I had enough to feed an army. We will be eating chili every day for a week.

My new blog

Well, I can't believe I am on here thanks to Yvonne. This will be exciting reading for you because "We went to McDonald's this a.m." will probably be all I can think of. Anyway, here I am.